NY Times Really Upset Over Concealed Carry Laws

The anonymous NY Times editorial board has been running editorial after editorial in their drumbeat to take guns away from law abiding citizens (no word from the editorial board as to whether they are going to do away with the armed security guards in their lobby), turning citizens into gazelle in a sea of lions. Here comes another

As the nation’s leaders devise new gun control strategies following the Connecticut shooting, they should look for ways to strengthen state laws that govern the possession and use of firearms. In too many states, these laws are weak and, in some cases, seem almost designed to encourage violence.

Over the years, states have made it increasingly possible for almost any adult to carry a concealed handgun in public, including on college campuses, in churches and in state parks – places where people tend to congregate in large numbers and where, in a rational world, guns should be strictly prohibited.

In the real world, those places where people tend to congregate are typically gun free zones, and exactly where crazy people bent upon committing mass murder before suicide target. More often, college campuses, churches, state parks, malls, bars, restaurants, movie theaters, and so many other places are off limits for those with concealed carry permits, either through state restrictions, federal restrictions, or business restrictions. In North Carolina, the restrictions are:

Any location prohibited by federal law.

A law enforcement of correctional facility.

A building housing only state, federal or government offices.

A financial institution.

Any public or private school building or bus, campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic fields or other property used or owned by an educational institution.

Any assembly where a fee had been charged for admission or where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed.

Any other premises where notice that carrying a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a conspicuous notice or statement by the person in legal possession or control of the premises.

It shall be unlawful for any person participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator at any parade, funeral procession, picket line, or demonstration upon any public place owned or under the control of the state or any of its political subdivisions to willfully or intentionally possess or have immediate access to any firearm.

It is further against the law to carry while under the effects of alcohol or drugs, except in cases of certain legally obtained drugs (like flu medicine) as long as the drugs do not cause impairment. Most States’ concealed carry laws are similar. And where do most of these mass killings tend to occur? In places where there are lots of gazelles. Or, perhaps we should say where there are lots of sheep, and sheep dogs are not allowed.

A more likely cause for this shift are the very forces that have undercut efforts to enact strong and sensible national laws, namely, the incredible power of the pro-gun lobby and its profitable allies in the gun manufacturing industry. The assertion on Friday by Wayne LaPierre, the vice president of the National Rifle Association, that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” was as much a sales pitch as it was a restatement of the organization’s perverse philosophy.

Well, if the NY Times and liberals don’t like that, perhaps they could tell us what a good guy could use when a bad guy comes after him/her with an illegal gun in a gun free zone. Harsh words? Dirty looks? Asking them to stop?

President Obama has promised to unveil a new gun control strategy soon (once he’s back from his long vacation). It is likely to include a renewed effort to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Connecticut massacre, as well as other familiar measures. But the strategy will be incomplete unless Washington becomes actively engaged in making sure that the states stop allowing guns to get into the wrong hands.

In Times Land, that means everyone (else) should be disarmed, and somehow, magically, criminals will give up their own guns.

BTW, under federal law people are not allowed to bring guns within 1000 feet of a school (k-12). That did not stop the Newtown shooter. Nor did he have a concealed carry permit. So, why the effort to roll back concealed carry? A disarmed population is a sheepish population.